Power and radiance scaling of a 946 nm Nd:YAG planar waveguide laser

Abstract

We present a diode-end-pumped Nd:YAG planar waveguide laser operating on neodymium's quasi-four-level transition at a wavelength of 946 nm. Two modes of operation are described: a high-power multi-mode monolithic cavity generating 105 for 210 W of incident pump power with a slope efficiency of ~54%, and secondly, a high-radiance configuration employing an external stable resonator producing a maximum output power of 29.2 for 86.5 W of incident pump-power, with a slope efficiency of 33%. The output beam quality values of the external cavity were M² of 3.2 by 2.4, leading to a maximum radiance of 0.43 GW cm^-2 sr^-1.

Laser Physics (2012) Vol.22(3) pp.494-498

doi: 10.1134/S1054660X12030140

Click here to request a preprint of this paper. (Please mention the paper number)